I looked up at our little counter this morning and saw that as of February 9th, Gnome Stew had published 599 articles. We're all eyeballs-deep in our secret project right now, and I think I've cracked the whip over my fellow gnomes' backs enough over the last few months, so I thought I'd give them a break and make #600 a short article asking a simple, reflective question: What has ...

One of the most intriguing — not to mention challenging — dungeon spoils are those things that are simply too large to carry easily or at all. Usually these things are intended as stationary effects. The item is fixed in a location and generates a magical effect or grants a one-time boon. Imagine an obelisk that wards a room against undead creatures or a fountain whose waters grant cures ...

OneBookShelf, which runs RPGNow and DriveThruRPG (among other sites), is doing something fantastic to help Haiti: donate $20 to Doctors Without Borders for Haiti relief, and you'll receive a bundle of gaming PDFs worth over $1,400. Honestly, if you have $20 you can afford to donate, this is an incredibly easy decision. Here's the link: Gamers Help Haiti $20 donation. OBS has already raised over $3,200 $7,000 $13,000 $37,000 $42,000 $75,000 ...

In the December edition of Atomic Array, game designer James Maliszewski of Rogue Games explained why he included random encounters in his latest adventure, “The Cursed Chateau,” which is billed as an old-school  funhouse-styled scenario along the lines of the classic module “Castle Amber.” Interestingly, he said he did it for the GM’s enjoyment. Maliszewski said he loves to include random encounters because it allows the course of a ...

Today is Veterans Day in the United States, also known as Armistice Day and Remembrance Day in many other countries. Serving in the military is simultaneously dangerous, boring, stressful, exhausting, and frustrating. And the pay frankly sucks. But it’s also one of the most satisfying jobs you can ever hold. Soldiers (and sailors, airmen, and marines) not only volunteer for it, quite a few of them reenlist, and even ...

Dinna mind the intrusion. ‘Tis just meself, Captain Hyman Grinder and me crew, taking liberty with your Stew. (Arr, a poet and dinna know it…) Listen up, sea-dogs! Thar be a right powerful day on the morrow… ‘Tis International Talk Like A Pirate Day. So swab your poop-decks and polish your hornpipe, me laddies and lasses, or I’ll be teachin’ ye the real meaning of “Jolly ...

Labor Day in the United States marks the end of summer, a day when municipalities close their outdoor swimming pools. Schools in the northern states used to wait this late to start, but niceties such as high school football and mandated number of school days nixed that. The other seasonal tradition is the fashion-maven's adage: Don't wear white after Labor Day. The origins for this are a bit obscure, ...

What’s the Crock Pot? Just a simmering bowl of lentils and herbs, with a dash of DMing observations. Don’t be afraid to dip in your ladle and stir, or throw in something from your own spice rack. I spent the past weekend with some friends at the Bristol Renaissance Fair, which straddles the Wisconsin-Illinois border and for nine weeks of the past 30 or so summers exists in a ...

Two readers are stirring the Suggestion Pot with map-making questions. BladeMaster0182 writes: Hi guys. I would like an article on mapmaking. Every DM does it and I couldn’t find an article on it. I know many of us do it by hand but some of us (like me) lack the artistic talent to draw out their dream world. There are some map making programs, but most I have found are ...

What’s the Crock Pot? Just a simmering bowl of lentils and herbs, with a dash of DMing observations. Don’t be afraid to dip in your ladle and stir, or throw in something from your own spice rack. Caught twixt and tween The mop-up session, the bookkeeping session, the just "finish-the-damn-dungeon-so-we-can-get-on-to-something-else" session. The transition session. I really don't enjoy DMing those sessions as much as I should, I suppose. Admittedly, they are challenging ...

What’s the Crock Pot? Just a simmering bowl of lentils and herbs, with a dash of DMing observations. Don’t be afraid to dip in your ladle and stir, or throw in something from your own spice rack. So, with a gazillion cable TV channels — why is it there is so little on TV that appeals to me, as a gamer?  I mean, you can’t spin the dial without ...

Strangely enough, the GM's role is strikingly similar to that of a professional wrestling promoter, especially the person responsible for booking the matches. You want to see the Dream Team of Brutus Beefcake and Greg "the Hammer" Valentine take on the Hart Foundation of Bret "the Hitman" Hart, Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart and their manager, the man on the megaphone, Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart? (I believe I have ...

What’s the Crock Pot? Just a simmering bowl of lentils and herbs, with a dash of DMing observations. Don’t be afraid to dip in your ladle and stir, or throw in something from your own spice rack. Good GMs need inspiration. Movies, TV, music and video games all figure into the mix, of course. But nothing beats a good book. The events of the past month have sent many ...

What’s the Crock Pot? Just a simmering bowl of lentils and herbs, with a dash of DMing observations. Don’t be afraid to dip in your ladle  and stir, or throw in something from your own spice rack. Back in the saddle again First, thanks to Martin and the gang for allowing me to take a short hiatus. Dave Arneson, 1947-2009 Unfortunately I wasn’t able to post my appreciation of D&D co-creator Dave ...

A number of gamers like to mix their passions-- at the moment, food's on the upswing for me. I'm not the only RPG Blogger with this strange blend of interests: Dice Monkey's Bridget stirs in articles of real world recipes with game world names. (Once recent dish: Troglodyte Tequila Lime Fillet.) On the stew, Adam Nave wrote provocative articles about food at the gaming table, including GMing for ...